What parts of the US have the highest employment rate of both men and women? And where do they place their kids while working?

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  2. Children either attend daycare or stay with friends/family. Of course, once they reach school age, they attend school.

    In my own experience, I’ve known very few families that can live off of a single income.

  5. Alaska I think has always been #1 or #2 for participation in the workforce by women of reproductive age. So I’d say we have to be in the top for this. I know very few single earner households, very few.

    It is *very* difficult for families with young children, which is why you see some net outmigration of the working age population. There are not enough daycare providers to serve our workforce due to the government’s choice to underinvest in the sector. The pay for daycare workers at almost all programs is too low to retain quality workers and you can make more at nearly any other job. The exception to this is headstart which receives federal funding – those programs pay pretty commensurate to experience and are able to retain staff. Back on the shortage, take my friends. They are a couple with graduate degrees and specialized jobs. Had a kid in their 30s and couldn’t get their child into licensed daycare until age 2.5 due to waitlists. Parents usually place their younger kids in a hodgepodge of extended family like grandparents, unlicensed childcare like some of the mostly women who do stay home for some time, or teens and preteens watching kids outside of school hours. Some parents also work opposite shifts, which you know, just does wonders for healthy marriages. /s Families that own businesses like commercial fishing vessels or retail stores often bring babies to work with them.

    Older kids are easier to find care for like in afterschool programs or summer camps. If your kid is fairly responsible and your home environment safe Alaska is thankfully pretty lax on the whole latchkey kid thing, letting kids walk or bike places, and of course there are a lot of kids just chilling in workplaces and business after school as their parents finish up the last hour or two of the day.

  7. My guess is the Midwest has the highest share of women in the workforce and the South has the lowest share.

  9. I know quite a few families where the mom stays home. All of them (mine included) have multiple children. Daycare is expensive and if it’s not it’s shitty. I’m extremely proud of the fact that my wife has been able to stay home for the kids.

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